In the early 1920’s, William S. and Mabel Robison moved here, with their children Keith, Vern, Bill, Donald, and Phyllis, from the house on Brooklyn Avenue in the University District of Seattle where they had been living since they were married in 1911. I think at this point the growing family had been living upstairs, and Mabel’s parents William A. Bass and his wife Alvira were living in the downstairs apartment. Charlie told me that W. S. Robison had saved the Brooklyn Avenue property from repossession by Calhoun, Denny & Ewing, the mortgage company.
In Vern’s handwritten, undated notes he mentions that the family moved to Victory Heights around 1926; Sam thought it was in about 1923 — so, right after Phyllis was born — and the family continued to live there for about ten years. In that case, Sam, David, and Darrell were born when the family lived there. (And Donny died there.) Sam told me (in August 2019) that the family moved back to the Brooklyn Avenue house in about 1933, when Sam was in first grade, so he could go to the local grade school in the University District.
However, on W. S. Robison’s death certificate of 3 February 1941, his home address is listed as 11701 23rd Avenue N.E. — the Victory Heights house.
Here are some reminiscences from Vern’s notes:
When we moved out there, the road north of 110th (at 22nd Avenue NE) was finihsed but gravel for 3 or 4 blocks, then rough one lane between the stumps to our street (117th). Real country roads.
The first thing Dad [W. S. Robison] had done was to get someone to blow the big stumps on our 5 acres. Dad wasn’t much of a workman, and the guys he hired were strong and stupid. I remember when blowing a stump not far north of the house they put the charge in on the south to blow the stump away to the north. To help hold the blast down the guys put a big rock over the buried powder. Boom! The rock went over the house an landed in the road! Fortunately, no damage!
We walked a mile (more or less) to Lake City School. I think I started in the fourth grade. The old building had 4 classrooms with 2 grades in a room.
I remember when Lindberg toured the U.S. in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Dad took us (Keith, Vern, and Bill) to Sandpoint [Naval Air Station , on Lake Washington in Seattle] to see him. It was a school day, and the teachers were upset because we missed half a day of school. (That’s why I never learned calculus.)
Lindberg flew in from Spokane in the Spirit of St. Louis on September 13, 1927, buzzed the University of Washington, and landed at Sandpoint. Later that day he met thousands of Seattle students in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and was celebrated in parade downtown.
Vern continues:
Dad [W. S. Robison] bought a horse for us. It was named Harold Teen after a comic strip character of that age. She was a Welsh pony and went by the name of “Teeny” with us.
She came from a family that lived near ake Burien. They owned a restaurant near 4th and Pike. The daughter [of that family] had walked up behind and surprised her [i.e., Teeny] and got kicked in the face, so they decided to sell. We never had any trouble with Teeny.
I remember one incident. Teeny was grazing in the yard when Sam — about two years old — went walking under her belly. Teeny didn’t move, but she kept looking around for someone to get him!
We often took her to the school yard where we let others have a ride. On occasion [we went] to Lake City Beach on Lake Washington. She liked to wade into the water and kick up a spray.
Our saddle was the military type with a low horn and rigs to attach things.
The Robisons’ five acres in Victory Heights seems to have given the kids a semi-rural experience growing up. In addition to the pony Teeny, Vern said they had Napoleon, a pet goat full of personality (who would scare visitors by charging them with head lowered, horns ahead, only to draw up short and trot in a friendly manner up to the terrified strangers), as well as Pipsqueak the rooster, various chickens, dogs, cats, and who knows what else.
The Robisons had the Mercer until 1933, when they moved back to the University District, perhaps because from here in Victory Heights it was easier to access it where they kept it moored at Shady Beach (now Juanita Beach) near Kirkland.
Mabel always referred to this house as Victory Heights which, Sam told me, was because this was a trendier name than Lake City, which is where the house technically was. Victory Heights was a new nearby development put in during or right after World War I, hence the patriotic name. Mabel always had an eye toward what would add value to the real estate. The address matters!
Mabel who was involved in various women’s clubs in Seattle, and her husband W. S., who preferred an office environment (or to be on the road) were both probably happy to get back to the city in 1933.
